Layered titanates have numerous applications including photocatalysis, coatings, paint additives, sorbents and ion-exchangers. Solid state production methods for forming layered titanates have been disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 2656778. According to these production methods, a layered titanate can be synthesized by calcinating a mixture containing carbonates, nitrates or oxides of the desired metal with titanium dioxide.
Another method of forming a layered titanic acid is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,455,826, granted Nov. 25, 2008. According to this disclosure, a solid state synthesis method is used to form a layered titanate. The process discloses 86% acidification, and has been found to require four to five twenty-four hour acidification steps to obtain 100% acidification.
The above disclosed processes require expensive starting materials and numerous processing steps.
What is needed is a method for forming a delaminated titanate that is less expensive, more effective, and requires fewer processing steps. What is further needed is a produced delaminated titanate that has higher surface area and therefore higher reactivity that would benefit many applications including, but not limited to photocatalysis and ion-exchange.